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Weimar G98: Is it a 98b?

Landser

Member
Here is a Weimar G98 re-work that belongs to my Dad that he bought about 30 years ago. We never were sure what this model should be called. It does not have a bent bolt handle like a 98b, however it has the new rear sight and various arsenal markings.

This is a 1916 Danzig and apparently was re-worked in 1920. The barrel has Erma stamped on it and a few Weimar eagles. Parts are mismatched and a few are stamped over. Overall I think it is a nice looking rifle that shot well from what I remember.

So, is this a 98b or was there another model in this configuration?
 

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This is a 98M, a Gew98 upgraded with the S.s. Visier rear sight. The new barrel is an early depot spare.

The 1920 is a property marking used to indicate the rifle was in official German inventory in 1920. It is not a rework date. It was likely upgraded sometime in the mid-late 30's.
 
Thanks for posting another rifle, can you do better images of the serial number (what is the suffix, the letter under the 4335, - an "x" or "k" perhaps? I can't make it out...) and right receiver, I track the characters under the acceptance stamps and I can't make yours out.

Ryan is correct, collectors call these Gewehr98M (M= modified), old-timers call them Gew.98A or Gew.98B depending on the bands used, but they are nothing official, as the Germans generally didn't differentiate between the rifles while in use. A Gewehr98, whether upgraded or not was simply a Gewehr98, though some period documents do differentiate rifles more precisely if the need demanded, some call them Gewehr98's with sS rearsights, differentiating the Gewehr98 from the Kar.98b and Kar.98a by the mid-1920's.

The barrel was made in 1936, so it dates to that period or after, as Ryan said, the 1920 is only a property marking, more information on its application and purpose is in this post:

http://www.k98kforum.com/showthread.php?5741-The-1920-Property-Mark

The markings on the rearsight might tell you more as to when it was last reworked, I suppose the stock doesn't match? Neat looking, but if it doesn't match, it isn't likely that much can be said about the when or where the rework was done.
 
Thank you both for the replies, now I know what the 1920 date was for. I was able to take some more photos today and it looks like the weapon and stock SNs match. Also, I am not certain there is a letter suffix or it may be a scratch in the metal. Possibly it is the letter "o" and it was faint since the metal is more rounded in that area. Hopefully the photos will help shed some light.
 

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Thanks for taking some more pictures, not sure what to make of it, it could be an "o" but it doesn't compare all that well with others, at least in some respects. But I can't place it with a better character either. I did some comparisons and the marking is too degraded to tell for sure.

The last acceptance (C/X) is not known on Danzig/1916 before the dual suffix blocks and though that isn't proof of anything, generally acceptance follow patterns. This rifle look earlier than the dual suffix rifles, but as the acceptance doesn't fit well in earlier production and the suffix is unclear I can't place it. I had thought "x" plausible because it is close enough to fit with others, but it isn't an "x" and probably is even earlier.

I guess for now I will place in in the "o" block files, but as I am not sure I can't use it in trends work, which is too bad as knowing the block for sure would have helped considering it has this acceptance pattern.
 
If it were in the first 9999 rifles for that maker for that year, it would not have a suffix letter. They started at 1, went to 9999, then 1a - 9999a and so on.

Jim
 

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